Lust for Power
by ChibiTacoLord
Summary: A fanfiction about the Legend of Zelda animated series. Ganon planed to have Dark Zelda impersonate princess Zelda. However things do not go as planed when Dark Zelda steals the Triforce of power. Now corrupted by it's power, she becomes jealous of Zelda and wants everything she has, including her hero. WARNING, this story contains blood, gore, and dark themes. ZeLink collab
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Neither I nor LimeTiger711 own legend of Zelda or any of the characters in it** **.** **WARNING Story contains: blood, gore and dark themes, viewer discretion advised.**

Deep in the Underworld, Ganon sat on his thrown scheming against his enemies. So many times, he'd gotten so close to obtaining the Triforce of Wisdom, yet every time, Link and Princess Zelda both foiled his carefully set plans. It was as if the universe itself was against him, and in some ways, it was. But no matter what he would always try and try again. As he recalled, there were only a few times when he had nearly succeeded; once when he'd split the Triforce of Wisdom into three pieces, and another when he'd created a magic mirror which produced a doppelgänger of Zelda.

"Splitting the Triforce into pieces again would be too risky..." He grumbled, the Vires hadn't even managed to bring him a single piece.

As for the doppelganger, she'd managed to take the Triforce right out from under Link's nose. The only kink in the plan was the escape of the real Princess Zelda. Had she not gotten away, the Triforce would have been delivered right into his hands and Hyrule would have been his. Clearly Dark Zelda was the most successful of his underlings so far. If she were to lead the moblins in a mission to retrieve the Triforce of Wisdom...

Ganon snapped his fingers and with a flash of light he stood before his evil jar, the source of all his underlings. In front of the jar itself was his ultimate source of power: The Triforce of Power. The levitating red triangle cast an eerie red light over Ganon as he summoned Dark Zelda from the swirling magic within the jar. In a flash of pink smoke a beautiful woman with blond hair and emerald green eyes stood before him, she was Zelda's spitting image except for the darker clothing. Dark Zelda locked her gaze on Ganon awaiting her orders.

"Dark Zelda…" Ganon started. "I have a task for you. I need you to go to Hyrule Castle again and take the Triforce of Wisdom. Do whatever you must to take the princess's place, but do not fail me this time."

"Yes Master." She said in an almost bored tone.

Ganon nodded. "Now wait here until I return with more moblins," He said leaving the room.

Dark Zelda turned toward to the Triforce of power. For just once she would like to see the tables turned in her favor, why did she have to be the one taking orders? Why couldn't she be the master? If she only had the Triforce of power she could be living the same life as her doppelganger. A sudden thought came to mind. _What is stopping me from just taking it now?_ Dark Zelda looked up making sure she was alone, and without a second thought, she grabbed the Triforce.

When Ganon returned to the chamber, Dark Zelda was gone, and so was the Triforce. His screams of fury echoed through the vast Underworld. He turned to the moblins behind him.  
"Find her! Don't let her get away!"

The sudden shouting startled Dark Zelda almost tripping her.

"Rats! He must have discovered." She said under her breath.

Not wasting any more time, Dark Zelda bolted for the nearest exit. It wasn't long before moblins and other monsters swarmed the Underworld on Ganon's command. That girl had to be found before she escaped. Ganon himself even contributed to the search, teleporting to and fro searching for his rogue servant. Seeing all Ganon's minions bustling about made Dark Zelda question if her actions were such a good idea.

"I found her!"

That sudden voice froze her in her tracks. The minute word had reached Ganon he teleported to where she'd been found.

"Stop where you are!" He hissed. "Return to me what you've stolen or face my wrath!"

She panicked, jumped over a moblin and made a mad dash for the hall.

Stop her, stop her!" Ganon howled, hurling bolts of his own magic at her.

Each magic bolt only just narrowly missed her! It didn't help that the moblins weren't doing much to help him, either. When she took a sharp right, he followed, shouting at her to stop. Dark Zelda began to think that all hope was lost for her, that was until she saw the mirror. The moment Ganon caught glimpse of the mirror, he immediately knew she was going to make a run for it. 

"STOP HER, YOU FOOLS STOP HER BEFORE SHE REACHES THAT MIRROR!" He howled.

Dark Zelda leaped for the mirror at the same moment that Ganon shot a magic bolt. It all seemed to go down in slow motion. Dark Zelda was mere inches from being blasted, so close she could feel the heat of the magic. Dark Zelda sailed right through the mirror and Ganon's blast broke the mirror after her. Ganon's shouts of anger could be heard all throughout the underworld.

He was beyond furious. Not only had Dark Zelda escaped with the Triforce of Power, but the mirror she'd gone through was destroyed by his own magic. As he seethed in anger, the monsters scurried away into the shadows, not wanting to be anywhere near him in the event he should start firing deadly magic bolts at random.

 **A/N nice people who leave reviews get cookies ;3 , and meanies who spam get their thumbs bitten off.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N okay guys, Lime put a lot of effort into editing this, trust me it would have come out super crappy without her. Oh yeah I forgot to mention, LimeTiger711 is the co writer of this story, I tried saying that in the summery but I ran out of characters.**

Dark Zelda opened her eyes, taking in her new surroundings. She was standing in a nearly endless hall, completely made from polished onyx. Full length mirrors hung on the walls as far as the eye could see. Looking behind her, the mirror she had just jumped through was shattered, leaving only a few glittering shards clinging to the frame. Ganon must have destroyed the mirror. Then it hit her; she had actually got away with the Triforce.

Dark Zelda wandered the hall aimlessly for some time, the Triforce of Power casting an eerie red light on the uniform rows of mirrors. That was, until one particular mirror caught her eye. It was a tall, ornate oval-shaped mirror with an extravagant golden frame inlaid with ornate designs. She took one last glance at the hall behind her, then walked through.

Once through, she found herself in a large, grand room with towering (albeit, crumbling) pillars and large windows whose glass panels had long since shattered. Running through the center of the room was a long, dirty, tattered carpet that led to an empty dais that was caked in dirt and dust. Behind the dais, hung a large, once fine tapestry, now so dirty that one could no longer see the detailed embroidery that adorned it. Obviously, this had once been a grand and majestic hall. Now, it was no more than some dilapidated ruins, a mere shadow of its former self.

The place seemed to be abandoned. "Hmm, if this is to be my hideaway I am going to have to clean up the place." She looked down at the Triforce of Power in her hands "I wonder..." Dark Zelda concentrated her energy on the Triforce. The room then filled with the Triforce's red glow, and with a flash of light, the room was restored to its former glory. The empty stone window panes were now filled with beautiful stained glass patterns, the carpet had been returned to its former rich red color, looking like a stream of blood running down the center of the room. The previously empty dais now had a luxurious looking armchair sitting in the center of it. The pillars no longer had cracks or chips, but now stood tall without a single imperfection. Even the tapestry behind the dais looked as if it'd just been made, its gold embroidery making the scene depicted clear as day.

Dark Zelda looked at the room in amazement. Even the mirror she had come out of had been fully restored. There was not a speck of dust on it. She wandered over to the throne, running a finger along the armrest. Now THIS was a throne. Much more regal and extravagant than anything Ganon had in the Underworld. This was a place fit for royalty like herself. She paused. She was royalty, right? She was the exact same person as Princess Zelda, so she ought to live like a princess too. Why should only Zelda have a life of luxury? Why couldn't she have that too?

Dark Zelda's gaze drifted towards the slow, pulsating red light of the Triforce of Power. Now she had a piece of the Triforce. She was one piece away from being the undisputed ruler of Hyrule, and unlike Ganon, she had the brains and resolve to get that last piece from that fraud, Princess Zelda.  
She rested her palm on the Triforce of Power. It was warm, almost hot to the touch. That touch was all she needed before making her decision final.

Hyrule would be hers.

Dark Zelda's attention was turned to the door when it creaked open. A lynel was on the other side, as soon as it saw that she had the Triforce of power, it bowed down to her. "Lady Triforce bearer, how may I be of service to you?"

"You want to serve me?" She asked. Perhaps the reason all those monsters obeyed Ganon to begin with was because he held the Triforce of power, but now she had it.

...

"Are there others like you who want to help me?"

"Of course, my lady. The others and I have not had a master in a long time," said the beast

As if on cue, several other monsters trickled cautiously into the hall, watching Dark Zelda with a mix of fascination and respect. It wasn't long before the room was filled with monsters and beasts of various sorts, all staring at her as if awaiting her order.

She stood there, shocked at the large crowd that now stood before her. "Where am I?"

"We are in the Maze Island palace, my lady." the lynel replied. "In the North East of Hyrule."

She smiled "Good, that should give us plenty of time to fortify."

the lynel bowed. "We shall begin fortifications around the island right away." It motioned for the other monsters to follow it and one by one they left the room.

"He will come for you."

Dark Zelda jumped at the sound of a male voice echoing through the room. She looked left and right searching for the source of the voice until she realized it was coming from the Triforce itself.

"Not if I can help it," She replied

"Without me he is weaker, but not one to mess with. I can offer you limitless energy but you must discipline yourself in order to use it."

"So, to gain ultimate power I must train myself with magic?"

"Yes. With this power, you could do whatever you please. No one could stop you."

Dark Zelda looked out the window at her minions. "I should probably sever my ties to the evil jar..."

"Begin your studies in magic and with my energy such a task would be trivial."

She nodded in reply, and beckoned a moblin to her side.

The moblin knelt at her feet. "My lady?"

"Are there any spell books on this island?"

The moblin looked back at his peers, all who shook their heads.

"N-no, my lady."

"Well then, gather the rest who aren't working and have them raid the nearest towns for supplies and spell books."

The moblin gave a hurried nod and motioned for the others to follow him. Dark Zelda returned her gaze back to her working servants.  
With so many monsters at her command, how long could this take?  
***

"What? Another village got raided?"  
Spryte gave a sad nod. "It was just like all the other ones; every magic item and spell book was taken."

Princess Zelda frowned, not sure what to think of the recent spike in monster raids. It didn't seem like something Ganon would command, after all, he already had all the supplies and magic objects he needed for whatever he wanted. Why would he want to take those things from villages?

The princess paced impatiently around the study. Something unusual was going on and she didn't like it.

The door knob started rattling, and was followed by some thumping and grunting. "Stupid door..."

Zelda shook her head. There was only one person who was stupid enough to not realize that you were supposed to push the door open instead of pulling.

"Link, I'm busy! Not now!"

"Well fine then, I guess you don't want me to give you a message from Saria," He said with a huff.

"Fine! Come in!" She sighed, rubbing her temples. Hopefully the news from Saria would help her solve this puzzling mess and give her a means to stop the raids altogether.

After a few tries with the door knob Link finally got the door open. "That's a tricky door knob..."

"How many times do I have to tell you, push the door, don't pull on it! Just never mind that!" She waved her hand dismissively. "What is the message from Saria?"

"I don't actually know, I'm just here to give you this envelope." he said handing it to her.

Zelda raised an eyebrow, but took the envelope anyway. Inside was a sheet of white paper that had a brief description of the encounter with the monsters, as well as a list of missing items.

"Again, everything that was stolen were magical artifacts and spell books..." She mumbled, noting one book that was listed as "Spells for Dummies." Whoever was commanding these monsters was obviously a beginner in magic. Again, the puzzle pieces didn't quite fit. If this person was a beginner in magic, then how did they manage to get all these monsters to follow their commands? Typically, experienced sorcerers like Ganon were the only people who could do that.

"Mind if I take a peek?"

She shot him an annoyed glance, but handed the paper over to him.

"Knock yourself out."

He looked over at it, "Huh, well here's a thought. What if someone decided to do a stake out at one of those villages and waited for...Spells for dummies?"

Zelda shook her head.

"Saria wasn't the only village that was attacked, Link. Ruto, Nabooru, Rauru, Mido, Darunia..." she counted them off her fingers. "Just about every village has been attacked and raided at least once, and I'm no closer to figuring out why all these monsters are taking magic related objects and who is making them do it!" She let out an exasperated sigh.  
"I don't know what to do..."

He put his hand on her shoulder and tried his best reassuring smile. "You seem like you're a bit stressed from this, why not take a break for a while?"

Zelda stared at him for a few seconds as if to convince herself she'd heard what she just thought she did.

"I dunno... I mean, this is the first serious thing that has happened for months, not to mention the first time any of the monsters have a specific goal in mind."

 _"Though for once, Link might have a point. overthinking and worrying too much wouldn't help it any. It would be best to approach something like this with a clear mind,"_ she thought.

"Okay, I'll give it a rest for a bit. If anything else happens, let me know, okay?"

He smiled. "Sure thing. If you want I could help you."

"Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"When have I ever done something stupid?"

"Almost daily," she snorted. "Just be careful. I'll check back in about an hour, okay?"

"Alright..."

"Thank you." She gave a small smile before shutting the study door behind her and walking away, pondering what she should do to relax. At that moment Spryte had decided to fly up and perch on Zelda's shoulder.

"What are you doing now Zelda?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe I'll pay some of those towns a visit. See if I can find anything."

Spryte crossed her arms "While you're at it maybe you could practice with your magic, after all you wouldn't want to be attacked by this new foe unprepared, would you?"

Zelda nodded. "I suppose I should. I might be a good shot with a bow, but I'm essentially defenseless without one." Spryte nodded in agreement.

The princess paused.

"I should take the Triforce of Wisdom with me, especially with all the attacks as of late, I want to keep it close."

She then turned around and headed towards the tower where it was kept, with Spryte trailing after her.  
***

Dark Zelda stood before her very own evil jar. It was much grander than Ganon's; instead of plain glass, it was made up of red and yellow stained glass patterns, and the bottom of it was gold with rubies encrusted into it. She smiled at her work, running her hands along it. "I may as well break my bonds from Ganon," She said with a grin. Placing one hand on the jar, she closed her eyes and focused on her own energy. She could feel it all radiating from where she stood, but there was one thread of it that strayed off, spanning the vast amount of land between her and Ganon's evil jar. That single thread of energy is what kept her tied to him. Now, she needed to sever that one vital strand and connect it to the place of her choosing.

The moment her bond to Ganon's evil jar was severed, Dark Zelda focused the severed strand of energy down her arm, through her hand, and into her jar. A brief shock shot through her arm, and then she felt it; the euphoric sense of freedom. No longer tied to her previous master, she was free to do as she pleased, when she pleased, and no longer did she have to fear being sent back to him.  
Opening her eyes, she smiled.  
There was nothing left to fear.

 **A/N nice people who leave reviews get cookies, meanies who spam get their thumbs bitten off :3**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N huh…. I didn't actually think we would get any reviews… Well thanks for looking at our fanfiction, Lime and I put a lot of work into this and means a lot to us. As promised, here are your cookies. *Throws a cookie at tooperfect4words* Oh, and as for that a** hole who thinks he's so funny… *opens a cage of rabid dogs* enjoy typing with no thumbs…**

 **WARNING This chapter contains blood and gore, viewer discretion advised.** **(I mean it's not that bad, but I still wouldn't show it to a 12 year old.)**

Dark Zelda leaned back in her throne, awaiting her servants to return. Not able to think of anything better to do, she pulled out her hand mirror. In it's reflection, she could see her doppelganger was talking to a man in green; wait, she remembered him, he was Link. The princess looked frustrated, but when he put his hand on her shoulder and said something, she suddenly looked less tense.

Watching this scene gave Dark Zelda a strange feeling. A fiery, burning sensation in her stomach and chest. Why would anyone waste their time trying to console Zelda? The princess was a waste of space.

"My lady?"

The moblin's gravelly voice startled her.

"Yes? What is it?"

"News from Hyrule Castle." it croaked. "The princess has chosen to send a large portion of the military to defend the villages, leaving the Triforce of Wisdom vulnerable."

"Great, I will be back later." She set the hand mirror down and in a few quick strides, stepped through the large mirror propped up against the wall.

Once on the other side, she found herself standing in a small sitting room. One glance out of a nearby window told her she was within Hyrule Castle.  
Perfect.  
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of iron tapping against the stone floors as two guards switch their places. One of them caught sight of her.

"Princess? Weren't you just-" The other guard stepped in front of him.

"That's not the princess! It's her doppelganger, Dark Zelda! Call for reinforcements!"

Dark Zelda pulled out her knife and through it right through a guard's helmet. As the first guard crumpled to the ground, the other let out a cry of terror.

She took another step forward.

The lone guard nervously raised his pike, hoping to intimidate her. She found herself smiling, did this man really think he could stop her? How pathetic... Dark Zelda summoned up the power of the Triforce, and all she could see was red. The hot feeling began in her throat, making it feel as if she'd just swallowed a hot coal. It then spread down into her chest and arms and then down her legs, filling her with energy all within a matter of seconds and giving her a faint, but visible red glow. Dark Zelda stared directly into the eyes of the remaining guard. His knees were visibly shaking and he'd broken out into a sweat.

She'd only just taken a single step forward before he spun around and ran down the hall, armor clanking noisily. She let out a small elated laugh; What an utter coward. She caught up with him easily, moving so fast that it only felt like she'd take a couple steps before catching up with him and sinking the blade of her knife into the back of his neck. He let out a loud cry of pain before hitting the ground with a thud and clatter.

Dark Zelda brushed a stray strand of blond hair out of her face before turning her attention to the nearby staircase; Just up those stairs and beyond one door lay her goal: The Triforce of Wisdom.  
***

Link yawned, and shut the study door behind him. He'd read through every report on the strange monster attacks on towns across Hyrule, and while the circumstances screamed 'Ganon was here!' there were points that just didn't add up. No wonder Zelda was frustrated by it. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud shout and the sound of clanking metal. A little way down the hall and around a corner, Link came across the source of the sound.

His heart jumped into his throat and he immediately felt sick. One guard was lying only a few feet from him with a hole in his head. He crouched down next to the fallen man. The guard's helmet might as well have been tissue paper for what protection it had offered from the attacker; the edges of the hole surrounding the wound were pristine and clean. The attacker had easily stabbed through the metal, and for that matter, the man's skull. A low groan came from further down the hall. Following the noise, Link found another guard, but this one was still alive!

"What happened?" He asked, gently propping the man up.

The guard wheezed, blood dribbling out of his mouth. "She's crazy...She's here!" He whined.

"Who?"

"That...girl, the doppelganger of princess-"

Link's hair stood on end, detecting the presence of strong magic only moments before the bolt had hit the dying guard, effectively finishing him off. One glance behind him, and suddenly the guard's final words made sense. The last thing Link remembered would be a bright flash of light before everything went dark.

Dark Zelda smiled down at the unconscious hero that lay at her feet. She reached down, binding his hands together, after which propped him up and started fastening rope to his ankles. Once securely tied up, she dragged him back to the sitting room with the mirror she came out of. While the Triforce of Wisdom had been moved, she certainly didn't intend to go back empty handed, and now she had at least something to show for her trip to the castle.  
***

When Link opened his eyes, he found himself in an unfamiliar place.  
With a jolt of panic, he tried to sit up, only to find he was strapped to the bed with a few strips of rope. To add insult to injury, he realized that his hands and feet had been tied together too.  
Great.

He struggled for a bit, but to no avail; he was stuck tight. He'd have to cut the rope. His bound hands clumsily went to grasp the hilt of his sword, but he found it was gone. Heck, his bag was gone too.

"Could'a at least left me with SOMETHING..." He grumbled, straining against the ropes.

The door knob rattled, Link immediately stopped struggling and looked at the door. The door opened, and Zelda came in-no not Zelda, but her dark reflection. She had blood splatted all over her and her hair was loose and tangled.

"Hello handsome." She approached closer and placed her hand on his cheek, caressing it.  
He jerked back from her touch.

"What did you-why did-wh-" He had so many questions but didn't even know where to start.

She put her finger over his mouth effectively shushing him "Shh…Calm yourself, I'm not going to hurt you." Link noticed the bloody knife fastened to her belt and let out a frightened gulp.

"Where are we, exactly?" He asked, prying his eyes away from her bloody weapon.

"your new home," her eyes glowing a faint red for a moment.

"Where exactly is this 'new home'? You can't just move me without asking!"

"Now, now, there is no need to be so hostile, I am Zelda after all."

He wrinkled his nose in disgust at her mention of being Zelda.  
"Just give me back my stuff and I'll go, okay?"

Dark Zelda's eyes glowed with rage, she grabbed him roughly by the collar of his tunic and slapped him with so much force that his head turned to the side.

"Look, I don't care whether you want to be here or not! You belong to me now!" She stomped out of the room slamming the door behind her, it made a clicking sound indicating that it had been locked. Link's face stung where she'd slapped him. He was sure it was an angry shade of red to boot. He made a move to rub the sore spot on his cheek, but was stopped short after remembering he was still bound.

"Gah...that hurt." He muttered. "So much for being civil." He looked around the room. It was furnished like a typical bedroom you'd see in Hyrule castle. A four-poster bed, nightstand, and a sitting chair. Unfortunately, nothing he could try to cut the rope with. Even if he cut the rope, it sounded like that impostor had locked the door behind her, so there'd be no daring escape anytime soon.  
***

Princess Zelda paced anxiously across the study. This time, however, it wasn't the village attacks that was bothering her.

"Calm down, I'm sure he's somewhere."  
Spryte said, trying to soothe the agitated princess. "Link's probably just sleeping under a tree or something."

Zelda shook her head. "No, that doesn't add up. Those dead guards were found not far from here, and this is the last place we saw him. There's no way someone could have killed them without him noticing the bodies when he left."

Spryte sighed. She'd been trying to calm Zelda down, but it was more like she was reassuring herself. The princess made a good point, there's no way Link could have left the study without seeing the bodies. That meant he either pursued the attacker or he too was... She shook her head in an attempt to be rid of the unpleasant thought. Zelda stopped pacing at the sound of a polite knock on the study door.

"Yes?"  
The guard opened the door and knelt in front of the princess.

"We've checked the entire castle and the nearby woods; Link is nowhere to be found, and his horse is still in the stable. We're beginning to suspect foul play-"

"Of course there was foul play! Two men are dead!" Zelda snapped.

At the visible flinch of the guard, she sighed.  
"I'm terribly sorry. Please, continue. Have you found any trace of who it was or what they were after?

"We traced the bloody footprints from the hall upstairs to Link's chamber, princess."  
She made a 'go on' gesture.

"Well, we were able to determine that the size of the footprints was too small to be his, so as of now there is no evidence that he was hurt or injured." He cleared his throat. "But judging from where the prints were headed, we believe the attacker intended to steal the Triforce of Wisdom, your majesty."

Zelda nodded. "I see. Anything else to report?"

The guard shook his head. "No, princess. But if any new leads come to light you'll be the first to know." 

"Thank you. You may leave."

As the guard left, she turned to face Spryte.  
"Spryte, what do you make of this?"

"Well...who else could it be? The only person gutsy enough to try and steal the Triforce is Ganon."

"That's what I thought too. The only problem is those footprints."

"Huh? Why?"

"The guard said they were too small to be Link's, and therefore likely too small to be Ganon's."

"They could be moblin footprints." Spryte suggested.  
Zelda thought for a moment, then slowly nodded.  
"Possibly. We should get a better look at them to make sure." she sighed. "Either way I hope he's okay...wherever he is."

Right then, the light coming off the Triforce of Wisdom began to pulsate.

"The one you seek can be found, but does not return, as against his will he is bound."

Zelda stiffened, He was still alive, but being held against his will.  
It all made sense now, the attacker must have kidnapped him. Zelda raced to the Triforce.

"Please Triforce of Wisdom, tell me where he is."  
The Triforce didn't even glow in response. Zelda knew asking it would be useless, the Triforce of Wisdom only spoke once a day.

"Zelda, do you think we should tell them the new information?"

She thought on it for a moment.

"We should let them know so they don't waste any more time looking for him."

Spryte nodded and flew off.  
Zelda was confused; how could a moblin sneak in, kill two guards, and kidnap Link without being seen? Moblins are clumsy creatures barely capable of stealth, not to mention moblins never wore shoes and their toes were more spread out, and there was another thing that just didn't add up. Link could usually hold his own quite well, so the whole idea that one moblin could make off with him just like that seemed laughable. A darknut would be a lot more capable of over powering him, but what with their heavy armor and large size they would be completely incapable of stealth, not to mention, their feet were obviously way too big to belong to the attacker. Zelda wondered if it could be a neighboring kingdom, but there weren't many kingdoms around that would attack Hyrule, not to mention what could they possibly hope to gain by taking Link? Zelda than wondered if Link had a few enemies of his own, but the whole idea that one of them would break into the castle just to grab him just seemed unbelievable. Besides if Link had an enemy that was crazy then surely, he would tell her, wouldn't he?

Zelda wandered down the corridor where the attack took place. Even though the bodies of the two guards had been taken away and prepped for burial, it looked as though the cleaners hadn't been able to remove all traces of the attack just yet. Dark stains remained embedded in the carpet and clung stubbornly to the stone walls, and with them, the footprints of the attacker remained visible. Zelda followed them further down the hall, then up several flights of stairs and into the tower. They'd walked into Link's room and up to the pedestal where the Triforce of Wisdom usually sat, then doubled back, just as the guard had told her.

"So... there was no other goal than obtaining the piece of the Triforce..." She thought aloud. "That must rule out Link as the primary target. So, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

She realized that if Link hadn't come into the study and told her to take a break when he did, she could very well have been the victim instead of him. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door swinging open. Zelda's father stood on the other side.

"Is what I heard true? Was the Castle really attacked?"

She nodded sadly.

"Yes. Two guards were found dead in the hall, and Link has been taken by the attacker."  
He was about to ask her questions but when he saw the sad look on her face, he thought better of it.

"Don't worry my dear, I'm sure we'll get him back." No, Zelda thought. She would get him back, after everything he has done for her, it would be her turn to be the hero.  
***

"Are you sure you should go alone, Princess?" Spryte asked nervously, watching as Zelda double checked her equipment bag.

"I couldn't drag you into this." Zelda replied, stuffing in some extra ropes and arrows. "Besides, like I told you earlier, I feel like his kidnapping is my responsibility to resolve. Not just that, but I have experience with the layout of the Underworld." 

Spryte sighed "I won't be able to convince you to change your mind, will I?"

"No Spryte, this is important. Link could be killed if I wait any longer."

"I understand, but remember when Ganon captured Link's body? You were only able to help him because his spirit was there to coach you. And you ended up getting captured anyway, the only reason he escaped was because-"

"That's enough! I'm a different person now Spryte, that was a long time ago!" Before Spryte could object, the princess had already ridden off into the night.

 **A/N please leave a review, I'm open to suggestions. (this is pretty self-explanatory, but being a critic is not the same thing as being a jerk, if you don't like it then don't read it.) ^w^**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N hey it's me, sorry for the wait on this chapter. Luckily, I found a way to remove that annoying troll review (cowardly guest…) ahem, I would like to thank NoSignalBlueScreen for their review *passes cookie to NoSignalBlueScreen* in other news, I will be discontinuing The Curse. I'm sorry if you like that story but I've lost all interest….)**

Zelda felt bad, snapping at the little fairy like that, but she didn't need to be reminded of how clumsy she used to be without Link's help. Yet at the same time a knot of worry had found its way into her stomach. What if she couldn't make it to him in time? What if she ended up getting caught too? Then they'd both be stuck without any means of sending for help or even helping themselves.  
"No! I can't think like that!" Zelda mumbled, shaking her head. "I have to make it in time. I just have to."

Zelda made an abrupt stop tying her horse, Storm, to a tree. This was the place where Link had shown her the cupid statue. The last time they were here, they had been attacked and an underworld entrance appeared, and now her she was trying to find that same entrance. Wandering a little further into the meadow, she glanced left and right for any sign of the entryway.

She poked various stones, prodded suspicious lumps of grass, but nothing happened. Feelings of frustration caused her head to pound. Link could have easily found the entryway within a matter of seconds, yet here she was, ten minutes into looking with no such luck. She angrily kicked a small pebble. It collided with the base of a remaining column with a sharp clack.  
Just then the ground beneath her feet rumbled, and then began rising. Zelda rolled down the side of the ascending knoll just in time to see that beneath it an entryway to the Underworld had opened.  
"That's one way to get in..." She muttered to herself, taking a few cautious steps into the cavern. A little further in, and she could her Ganon's voice angrily barking orders at his minions.

"I told you, you aren't allowed to return unless you find her!"  
"But master, me thinks we find her hiding spot."  
Zelda stopped short just outside of the large chamber where the voices could be heard echoing from.

"You think you found it, or you KNOW you found it?" He boomed.

"W-well we're not sure if she really there-"

"Then don't waste my time!"

Something about Ganon's voice was...off. It didn't sound the same.  
Zelda remained in the corridor. Should she barge in and demand Link's release? Should she try and find him herself without Ganon noticing?

Deciding it was best to leave his master be, the Moblin shuffled out, noticing the Hylian Princess.  
"Intruder!" It shouted, just before Zelda blasted it with a magic arrow, and jumped out of her hiding spot aiming her bow in Ganon's direction.

"If you know what best for you, you'll release Link right this-" She paused.  
"Who are you?!" She gasped.  
The man that sat in Ganon's throne looked nothing like him at all. He was a tall man with tanned skin and scarlet colored hair. He wore a deep blue robe adorned with a violet trim along with a cloak draping off his shoulders. He had a dark but regal presence that filled the entire room, filling the princess with unease.

"I AM Ganon." The man replied. "and if YOU value your life, you'll drop that bow. Link is not here."

She raised a brow then shook her head.  
"Liar! I know you took him, nobody else would have!" she shouted, her eyes burning with rage.

"What possible reason could I have for taking him?!" Ganon growled. "I'd have no reason to waste my time kidnapping him when I could have killed him instead!"

Zelda gritted her teeth, unable to think of anything else to say.  
" If you won't admit to kidnapping him, then at least admit to killing my guards!"

"I did no such thing."

"But if you didn't then who did?!" The anger and stress was practically radiating off the princess.

"I believe that it would be the same person who stole the Triforce of Power from me; a servant of mine who's gone rogue."

Zelda was stunned. One of his own minions had stolen his Triforce?  
"Which one?" Zelda asked cautiously.

Ganon's expression grew sour. "Ironically, your doppelganger."

Zelda's eyes widened in shock "...M-my doppelganger?" 

He simply nodded.  
"She managed to steal the Triforce of Power from me and escaped through a mirror. She could be anywhere in Hyrule, and I've been unable to locate her as of now..." He paused. "But it seems that, for once, we could be of use to each other, Princess. With our combined resources and power, there's no way she could remain hidden."

Zelda cringed.

"Oh come on, I don't like the idea either." He scoffed. "But think of it like this princess: you can take back what was stolen from you, and I can take back what was stolen from me." He explained matter-of-factly.

Zelda still didn't seem convinced, she could understand why he would need her help, but how would he be of any help to her?

"Aren't you pretty much powerless without the Triforce?"

"Powerless?! Hah!" Ganon scoffed. "I'll show you powerless!"

He stretched his hand out towards a nearby moblin, sparks dancing across his fingers. There was a quick flash of light and then that same moblin was scurrying out of the room, rubbing his now burnt rear.

"The Triforce may have enhanced my powers, but I'm still far from powerless without it." He snarled.

Zelda sighed. "All right, point taken."

"My minions are rather...incompetent at locating her, so this is where your resources will come into play. First thing, we must find where she is."

Zelda thought for a moment. "Well, If I were on the run I would probably try to get as far away as possi-."

"You think I haven't thought of that?" Ganon huffed.

"I've had my moblins search every corner of Hyrule but still no sign of her. Unless you know of somewhere that the average creature couldn't get to, my guess is as good as yours, Princess."  
Zelda shrugged mumbling something under her breath.

The princess really hated the idea of working with Ganon but if she was going to save Link, there was no other option.

"When we arrive at Hyrule Castle, no one is to know who you are, understood? If my people know you are there, they might panic."

Ganon gave an annoyed snort.  
"If you insist."

Zelda bit her lip in annoyance. "Oh and another thing, don't you dare try anything!" 

Ganon rolled his eyes.  
"If you say so."  
She didn't think he was stupid enough to jeopardize this temporary alliance BEFORE he got his piece of the Triforce back, but she had to make sure.

"I'll be waiting outside."

He shook his head.  
"No need. We should inspect where those murders took place immediately."  
Zelda sighed waiting for him to catch up.

"It just occurred to me, you're going to need a fake name."

"If you insist." He grumbled. "Though I could just not give a name to anyone at all."

"You do realize that someone might ask for your name, right?" Zelda crossed her arms.

"Pah." He snorted. "If it pleases her majesty... Very well."

Zelda smirked to herself in triumph as she neared her stallion. Ganon summoned his own horse with a snap of his fingers. " _Let's see if you can smirk like that once I get my piece of the Triforce back_." Ganon thought.  
The princess gave her horse a nice pat on the neck before hoisting herself into the saddle. Once atop the massive animal, she gave a soft kick to get him moving.

It was strange, walking into Castle Town like a normal person.  
No one screamed, nobody fled to the nearest house, and for once, Ganon was not met with an entourage of guards jabbing their weapons at him. He simply... Walked in.

Obviously, no one behaved the way he was used to. He wasn't a pig monster with an army laying siege to the town. To them, he was just another regular man. Then again, even if the townspeople didn't like him as he was now, no one would say so. After all, he was being escorted by the Princess herself.  
Soon Hyrule castle came into view, it's enormous stone walls seeming to stretch into the sky. Once closer, the two of them noticed a dark-haired woman who seemed to be having a disagreement with the guards.

"I understand, but-" the woman began, but was cut off by the guard.

"I'm sorry ma'am. Until the crime has been solved, no one is permitted to enter the castle without permission from the royal family." He solemnly shook his head. "We assure you, we're doing everything we can to figure out who did it."  
She sighed sadly; giving up, she turned around, her eyes widened when she saw Zelda.

"Your highness!" She stammered, giving a hurried (and awkward) curtsy. It was now very apparent that she was pregnant.  
Zelda gave a polite nod to the woman.

"What are you doing all the way up here? Shouldn't be at home, resting?"

"I know I should, but I just wanted to see if there was any more leads on...on his..." the woman wrung her hands, seeming to be unable to force the rest of the sentence. The Princess put a hand on her shoulder.

"We're doing everything we can to find out who did it, I promise. They won't get away with it."  
The woman gave a silent nod, her hand subconsciously moving to her swollen stomach.  
"Thank you, Princess. We're lucky to have you." she whispered before hurrying off.  
Zelda's eyes followed the woman for a while before she was finally out of sight. She felt bad for her, not only was she left without a husband, but she would be forced to raise a child on her own.

Ganon cleared his throat shaking Zelda from her thoughts.  
"We should get moving, your highness." Ganon said, nearly choking on 'highness'. He hated it, but he was going to have to be decent until he got his piece of the Triforce back.

"Oh, right..." Zelda motioned the guards to let them pass. The two men obediently stepped aside, allowing Zelda and Ganon to pass into the inner courtyard of Hyrule Castle, and after a brief silence and a few staircases, they made it to the site of the murders.

"Seems she made quick work of your guards." Ganon commented dryly, noting how often the castle guards crossed paths while patrolling. Dark Zelda would have had to have eliminated them fast if she was to go unnoticed.  
Zelda decided not to respond to his comment.  
"This way," she said gesturing down the hall.

They hadn't even stepped foot into the corridor before Ganon felt the residual energy of strong magic. Dark Zelda must have fired off at least one bolt. However, looking around the hallway, Ganon saw no scorch marks or other signs of magic use. Guess she could at least aim.  
"Do you know how exactly those guards died?" He asked. 

"They were stabbed,"

"Hmm. She's used magic in here. Strong magic. Obviously, it isn't the lethal sort if the guards were stabbed."  
Ganon scanned the room, noticing a mirror hanging on a wall.  
"There." he pointed.

Zelda looked from the walls to the direction Ganon had pointed, she raised a brow.  
"what about it?" It was just a mirror what could he find so important about it?

"Dark Zelda was created using a mirror and your own reflection. Being such, she can travel through mirrors." He said simply.  
"I'm not sure how she managed to get to this specific mirror, but I can almost guarantee this is how she managed to get into the castle undetected." Ganon paused. "...at least until those guards saw her and she decided to kill them."

Zelda thought it over. What he'd said actually made sense. Zelda walked over to investigate when she noticed something out of place. part of the rug leading to the sitting room had been turned over. Ganon followed her.

"Yes, this mirror is definitely large enough for her to have come through." He studied it carefully. "If this is the mirror she came through, there may be a way we could use it to find where she is, assuming she went back the way she came."

"This would probably be a task for the Triforce of Wisdom." Zelda noted.

"That could work." He mumbled, studying the mirror.

"I'll be right back, don't touch anything..." She said walking towards Link's chambers.

"I didn't need a reminder..." Ganon mumbled as she walked out of sight.

Zelda came back moments later with the glowing blue Triforce in her arms. Ganon turned towards the mirror. "Touch the Triforce to the surface of the mirror. If she really did pass through it to get here, it'll show us where she is now."

Zelda hesitated, not at all appreciating being told what to do, but having no choice, she tapped it against the mirror. The mirror rippled showing the image of Dark Zelda walking down a corridor. She was covered in blood and her hair was loose and tangled. She stopped at a door that was guarded by a Lynel. It moved out of her way opening the door for her. The mirror rippled again as the perspective shifted. Now they could see the inside of the room. It was dim, but looked surprisingly well kept. Zelda's doppelganger stopped by the bedside, where several thick coils of rope kept Link strapped down onto said bed. He immediately stopped struggling when Dark Zelda approached, and it appeared as if the two were conversing.  
One sour expression from Link and she gave him a deft slap across the face before walking back out, where the Lynel shut the door behind her as the mirror returned nothing more than a reflective surface. Zelda gasped at the scene, putting a hand to her mouth. She tried to think if she had seen this place but nothing came to mind.

Ganon's eyes narrowed. From what he could see, the thief was living somewhere rather opulent. The problem here, was that the Triforce of Power was an incredibly potent source of magic, making it easily within the possessor's ability to turn even a rundown shed into a manor fit for a lord.  
However, there was one detail that at least gave him a good idea of where she was: the Lynel.  
Lynel are known to only roam the North-Eastern section of Hyrule, which severely narrowed down the possibilities of where Dark Zelda was hiding.

"She must be somewhere in the North East." he said.

Zelda thought for a moment, mentally running through a list of prominent locations of that particular region.  
"Perhaps she is on Maze Island then?"  
Ganon thought it over. Maze Island was pretty large, and known for the abandoned ruins. The more he thought about it, the more possible it became. She'd used the Triforce of Power to restore the ruins into her own fortified base. 

"That must be where she is." he agreed.

"How can you be sure?" Asked Zelda

"It's large, well-fortified, and would be perfect for hiding while you bide your time."

"Hard to argue with that I suppose" She said with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Well?" Ganon folded his arms. "When are we leaving?"

"Well I did just get here, but I can't let her continue to treat Link that way..." the princess mumbled. 

Ganon rolled his eyes. "Then let's go."

 **A/N longest chapter yet, please be fair with your reviews my lovely readers. Also thank LimeTiger711 for her amazing editing skills and ideas she contributed.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Two chapters in one day! Can you believe it? Ehehe… Actually, chapter four was so long that Lime and I had to split it, so if you were wondering why this chapter is so short, now you know. Oh and for some reason keeps deleting my space brackets, is there a way I can get it to stop? Cuz that is really starting to drive me nuts.**

Link had tried just about everything to escape those stupid ropes binding him to the bed. He'd tried finding something sharp with no success, and the nearest rope was just below his collarbone, making it just a little too far to even attempt chewing away. So, by the time the Lynel had come to his room to announce that Dark Zelda had requested his presence at dinner, Link was still in the same position, now mentally exhausted from trying to think of ways he could escape.

Though saying he'd been 'requested' was a bit of a stretch. The lynel had just marched in, cut the ropes, and slung Link over its shoulder as he marched back to his master. The beast wasn't very gentle with him either; before he knew it, he had been unceremoniously dumped into a chair with the lynel hovering just behind him.

The way the creature eyed him was almost hostile, and it made him feel uncomfortable, so Link tried distracting himself with the scenery instead. He was at the end of a rather long table and above it was a golden chandelier. The windows were all framed with colorful stained glass as well.  
As his eyes wandered around the room, he made mental note of where all the exits were. One directly behind him that he'd come from, one on the direct opposite side of the room, another just to his right, and if the situation got dire, he COULD jump through the window.  
Link quickly discarded that last idea. He had no idea how high up he was and therefore jumping out of a window could mean certain death.

There were two ways he could go about trying to escape:  
One, he could wait for the prime opportunity to make a run for it, though that meant he'd have to leave his equipment behind and be completely defenseless until he got back to Hyrule Castle.

Two, he could wait patiently and try to gain this lunatic's trust. As much as the thought made him cringe, she seemed to like him. Maybe if he played along, she'd let her guard down and he'd be able to learn where she was keeping his stuff. With his sword in hand, escaping would be a piece of cake.  
 _"It'd be safer and easier to get out with my bag and sword."_ He thought. " _I guess that means I'll have to start playing along until I can learn where they are."  
_  
Link sat up straighter, feeling more confident with a plan of escape. If he could get Princess Zelda to (almost) kiss him on several occasions, then charming her evil twin would be a walk in the park.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, he turned his gaze to the door.  
The polished wood door swung open noiselessly, revealing his captor.  
His heart skipped a beat. She really DID look like Zelda. (At least, when she was clean and free of any bloody stains).

Dark Zelda was dressed in a stunning gown whose color was reminiscent of fine red wine. Much like several of the Princess's gowns, it had a sweetheart neckline that exposed her shoulders with long sleeves and a hemline that brushed against the floor. Around her waist was a simple gold sash-style belt that was pinned in the center with a golden medallion with an inverted red triangle in its center. Instead of a tiara duplicate of the princess's, she wore a gold crown-like headpiece with a red ruby embedded in the center of a diamond shaped piece. The rest of the crown seemed to be made of similar diamond pieces, though these ones lacked stones.

The one thing that set Link on edge were her eyes. They weren't a meadow sort of green the way Zelda's were. They were a cold, heartless looking green. Almost like that of an animal.  
He tried not to visibly shudder.

"Glad to see you could make it for dinner, Link." She said, flashing a pearly smile. 

Link forced a smile. "Me too."

Dark Zelda sat down. "So, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I was wondering if you, oh I dunno, wanted to start over?"

Well, that was easy.  
"Sure. Let's just forget that first thing ever happened." He said.

"Wonderful." She waved in a moblin who came in holding silver trays filed with varieties of different cuisines.

"Do you have any allergies Link?"  
"Nope."

Okay, yes; he had been kidnapped.  
Yes, the girl across the table from him was a psychotic murderer.  
Yes, he was playing nice in order to escape.

But dang, all that food smelled good.

Dark Zelda did most of the talking for the entirety of their dinner together. He gave short, simple responses to her questions and resisted any temptation to ask any questions. It was almost...normal.  
Normal until the meal ended. Then the lynel picked him up again and took him back to his room while the Dark Princess followed, asking him how the meal was, if he enjoyed himself until they arrived at his room. The lynel then dropped Link onto the bed before Dark Zelda bade him good night, and shut the door behind her with an audible click, indicating that it'd been locked. Guess he wasn't getting out tonight.

Dark Zelda stood in front of a large mirror, looking herself over one more time. Not a hair out of place, her crown sat perfectly on her head and there wasn't a single imperfection or speck of dust on her dress.  
Perfect.

While it's true that she was made from the reflection of Hyrule's Princess, and thus should have lacked one herself, she'd enlisted the help of the Triforce of power to enchant this one mirror to be the exception.  
After all, she wasn't going to win Link's heart if she looked disheveled.

She exited her room, taking the ever familiar path to the room where Link was staying. True, they had gotten off the wrong foot when she'd first captured him, but he seemed civil at the dinner she'd invited him to the previous night, and it seemed like he was willing to give her a chance at least.  
Not that she needed it. Regardless of whether he liked her or not, he was staying with her.  
The two monster guards nodded in respect as they let her pass. Once through she found that Link was still asleep. The only light in the room drifted in through the bared windows. The room was completely silent except for the sound of her walking across the room. The sound didn't seem to disturb the sleeping hero in the slightest. " _He's always been a heavy sleeper_." She thought idly, brushing a few strands of hair out of his face.

She found herself hesitant to wake him. He looked so peaceful. Eventually, she began prodding at him. "Wake up sleepy head."  
Link mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over.

"Come on, wake up." she tried again.  
He batted her hand away, mumbling again.

Dark Zelda shook his shoulder with force.  
"Get up!"

"Wha-?" Link blearily opened his eyes and blinked a few times.  
"Good, you're up." she smirked. "Come on, we've got plans today."  
"Plans? What plans?" He blinked in confusion.

"You'll see." She smiled grabbing him by the arm and pulling.  
'Plans' sounded vague and rather dangerous, but having no choice, Link got up and followed (or rather, was dragged) after her. Dark Zelda smiled like a kid in a candy store as she led him through corridor after corridor. Not for the first time, Link questioned the motive behind his capture. If anyone, Ganon usually tried to capture Zelda rather than him. As a matter of fact, the only time he recalled having been captured alone was when Ganon captured his body with a magic wand of sorts. Even that was an accident, though. He'd been aiming for Zelda.

He turned his gaze to the figure walking just ahead of him.  
Why of all his minions, did Ganon send Zelda's doppelganger to catch him? True, out of the lot, she'd come the closest to bringing the Triforce to Ganon, but that had only been because of her deceitful appearance. Once he'd realized that she wasn't the real Zelda, she'd been defeated shortly after. Without that element of surprise, she was easily downed with a single blast. Wouldn't it have made more sense for Ganon to assign a more powerful monster to keep an eye on his prisoner?  
"I guess she's smarter than most of them, anyway..." he thought. But it continued to gnaw at him: Why was he captured this time?  
Then it hit him: Why not ask the source?

"So...What does ol' pig face want with me this time?"

"Huh? Oh him." She snorted " I disbanded from him weeks ago, heck, I even managed to get the Triforce of Power from him."

Link would have stopped in his tracks if the Lynel following him hadn't prodded him in back with it's spear.  
She no longer worked for Ganon, and she had stolen the Triforce of Power from him as well! That meant that it must be in this fortress somewhere...  
He felt the first buds of another plan coming into his mind. If he could just earn the doppelganger's trust, he'd easily be able to escape with both his stuff and the Triforce! Even better, once he got it back to Zelda, she'd have to kiss him for sure!  
He felt giddy at just the thought.

...Although that meant he was gonna have to play along for a while.

"Really? Impressive." He said, hoping he didn't sound too fake.  
"Indeed," Dark Zelda turned smiling at him, Link returned a forced smile.

"You really are adorable Link." 

He didn't quite know how to feel about that statement. "Soo, where are you taking me?"

She smirked "why? Are you scared?" She teased, before he could retort she opened the balcony door reveling a red sunset reflecting orange across the rippling waves of the sea. Link blinked a few times, adjusting his vision before realizing what he was seeing. Dark Zelda pulled him on to the balcony with her. "Do you like it?"

"It's certainly a nice view." He mumbled.

Sure, he oozed charm when he was with the REAL princess. Why was it so hard to do with her double? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that, oh yeah, this woman is completely bonkers.  
Said woman was beginning to edge closer to him, interrupting his thoughts.  
"It is nice, isn't it? You can't get a view like this from Hyrule, can you?" She said, smiling.  
But it wasn't a nice smile, it was more of a smirk. Like the " _I've got you where I want you_ " look.

He swallowed, trying to carefully pick his words. He had to play nice, he had to make her think he liked her. Enough to convince her to trust him, anyway.

"Right. You can't." Link answered.  
She edged even closer speaking softly in his ear and making his hair stand on end.

"Would you say that you like it better here?"

"Y-yeah, it's a nice place, really." He stuttered.

She smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Oh really?" 

He forced a smile.  
"Yup. Really."

She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. It took all his willpower not to flinch or pull away. Just like the last time she had kissed him, her lips felt cold and lifeless. It felt like an eternity had passed before she took a step back.

"Is something wrong?"

"No no, it's all good." He hastily replied.

"Your blushing." she smiled

"R-really? I thought it was just hot out here, ehehe..."

Dark Zelda snorted "Geeze Link, when did you get so awkward?" She laughed.

" _Aaah, crap she's catching on..._ " He thought. " _I've got to try and be more casual_."  
Dark Zelda rested her head on his shoulder. "It's all right though, I think it's kinda cute."  
Link faked a smile, and (hesitantly) stretched an arm around her shoulder.

"This is a pretty nice place you've got here...um, Princess."  
She practically purred at his touch.  
"So... Why don't you show me around? Seems like an interesting place." he continued.  
Dark Zelda hesitated for a second. She didn't want him recognizing escape routes.  
"I don't know about the ENTIRE fortress just yet, but I can show you a few places."

" _Guess it'll take a little more charm to get her to trust me completely_." Link thought. " _Best to continue a careful approach."_

 __"If you say so." He said.

"Don't worry hun, I'll show you those places eventually once I can be sure you won't make a run for it." she winked at him "So what did you want to see first?"

"W-well," He started, trying to think of somewhere that wouldn't be suspicious. "How about the...dinning...room?"

"Well, okay." she smiled gleefully taking him by the hand.  
He tried to ignore how cold her touch was and obediently followed.

The dining room had changed little since he was in there last. In the center of the rectangular room sat a table, which was empty aside from a few (unlit) candlesticks. On each end of the table was a single ornate wooden chair. Only now did he realize how odd it was for such a large table to have just two seats. The room itself had three entrances: one at the top of the rectangle (which Link had come from) one at the bottom of the rectangle, and the final one was just to the right of the bottom entrance. The left wall was lined with stain glass windows, through which Link could just barely see the ocean. 

She smiled at him "You seem to enjoy the dining room."

"Who wouldn't enjoy a room where they eat?" He shrugged. 

She laughed "Fair enough."

"Where to next?"

"Well, I have an arena."

"Really? Interesting."  
An arena...that could mean weapons, and having a weapon could be his ticket out of here. 

"however, it's not finished yet, but you can still look if you like." 

"Lead the way, princess."  
She smiled turning left. Link tried to make a mental map of the place as the false princess led him through a maze of winding corridors. Eventually they came up to a heavy wood door that once opened, revealed a walkway atop a battlement. She led him across until he could see a large, circular stone structure. Looking about, it seemed to be in the center of all the battlements on this side of the building.  
"I'm guessing you like it then?" Dark Zelda crossed her arms smiling coyly. "I had a feeling you would."  
"Yeah, not every castle you see has it's own arena." He said.  
"hmmmmm..." she scratched her chin in thought.  
Link looked out over the arena and battlements again. All he could see beyond the walls was sea. Squinting a little, he could see a small black mass that he assumed must be the mainland of Hyrule. So that definitely ruled out swimming (though he would have left it as a last resort anyway). There had to be a way Dark Zelda made it to Hyrule Castle. Not only that, but a fast one. She'd managed to bring him all the way out here before he'd regained consciousness, which likely meant she hadn't used the traditional means of using a boat or raft to reach the mainland. That notion made it 10x less likely she even had a sea worthy craft here, so he could forget about using it to escape. Maybe she had an underground passage or something.

Dark Zelda looked at Link staring out at the sea, " _I wonder what he's thinking about_." she thought. Hopefully he didn't miss that miserable retch Zelda, especially after she went through all this work to impress him. He felt her staring at him before he realized they had both gone silent.  
"So, uh, what else is there here?"  
"well I have a garden, but I'm assuming you wouldn't care for that much." she said."I also have a library, but I know you aren't the bookwormy sort, so that would be no fun for you."

If she can't show me the other side of the building, then the Triforce of Power must be hidden somewhere over there..." Link thought. There proved to be only one problem left, and that was to gain enough trust for her to allow him to go over there. Unfortunately, that might take a while. Sure, he could tell she liked him, but not enough to let her guard down.  
"There is a sitting room," Dark Zelda continued. "But you would get so bored in such a place. You have too much energy to spend your time sitting in a chair."

"Right." He agreed, finding it a bit creepy she knew his mannerisms. "What do you suggest we do, princess?"

She thought on it for a moment.  
"Why don't we go for a walk on the beach? It's such a nice day." She looked over and smiled at him. "You would like that, wouldn't you? Come on." Dark Zelda grabbed his hand and led him back inside and down a few flights of stairs. "I could even have one of my servants bring us lunch when the time comes, wouldn't that be nice?"  
Link just smiled and nodded.

They had spent all day on the beach. The entire time Dark Zelda insisted on holding his hand as they strolled. Much like dinner the previous night, she did most of the talking. He tried to talk more than before, but still had a hard time giving her answers she'd want to hear.  
As the sun began to set, she had stopped him so they could admire it just as they had done with the sunrise that very morning.  
Just like that morning as well, she had leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before resting her head on his shoulder.

As they made their way back inside, she yawned. "I'm getting rather sleepy; shall I lead you back to your quarters?"

"Sure, I'm about ready to pass out myself." He said, stretching his arms. Maybe if she believed he was exhausted, she wouldn't post a guard outside his room...  
and that would leave him able to search the rest of the complex for his weapons and the Triforce of Power. Dark Zelda smiled taking him by the hand once again, leading him through the dining room then finally to the room he was being held in. She opened the door for him "Don't let the bed bugs bite." she smiled with a wink. "Oh, and I had a change of clothes on your bed."  
"Oh. Thank you. Good night." He forced a smile and waved as she closed the door behind her, with the familiar sound of the lock clicking into place.

This became his daily routine for many days to come: Wake up, pretend to like Zelda's Doppelganger, get locked into room, go to sleep, and repeat.

She would spend most of her days with him, often talking about the castle, how nice he looked, how this place was so much better than Hyrule, etc. It was almost painful for him to listen to her insulting his homeland and talk about how "cute" he was. Nonetheless, Link put up with it. Gaining her trust was crucial to his freedom. If she trusted him, she wouldn't feel a need for him to be guarded whenever she wasn't with him, and this would give him a chance to snoop. Unfortunately, his progress was slow.  
But one night, it seemed he would have his chance.

After an extravagant dinner, Dark Zelda walked him back to his room as usual, bid him a good night, and shut the door behind her. However, this one time, he heard no 'click' indicating it had been locked, nor did he hear any curt orders to guard the door. Had she left him in his room without any means of ensuring he'd stay there?  
Perfect.  
Link crept over to the door, pressing his ear up against it.  
No sound.  
He peeked under the door.  
No shadow of a guard.  
He waited a few more minutes.  
Still nothing.  
He carefully pulled the door open and peered out into the hall.  
Nothing was there except for the silent flicker of the torches.  
He couldn't believe his luck. She'd just left him there; completely sure he wouldn't try anything. He punched the air. His escape wasn't far now!  
Once over his initial excitement of potential freedom, he silently made his way down the hall.  
A little further down the hall he saw a red glow eminating from the right. He tiptoed further down the hall, making sure to make as little noise as possible. He initially thought the source of the light was just down that hall, but realized it was coming even deeper into that wing of the building.  
Link continued further down a few more hallways, the red glow getting more intense each corridor he went down.  
Then he finally came to the source of the red light.

It was obviously a throne room, much like the one Ganon had in the Underworld, but far more regal looking. Just behind the throne, there was an enormous hourglass-like jar that was eerily familiar looking. He realized why it was so familiar looking: it was almost exactly like Ganon's evil jar, complete with a swirling vortex of mist inside.  
But what caught his attention was on a pedestal in front of both the throne and the jar.  
The Triforce of Power.  
It hovered slightly above the pedestal, emitting the red light that had brought him to this room. The light that it cast off was intense, yet not bright. Making sure no one was watching, he hoisted it up. Unlike the Triforce of Wisdom, the Triforce of Power was noticeably warm, even hot in his hands.

"You think yourself worthy of my power?"

Link jumped at the deep voice that suddenly came from the glowing Triforce in his hands.

"I-"

Before he could even muster a reply, the Triforce flew out of his hands and zipped across the room.  
Right into the grasp of Dark Zelda.  
She looked eerily beautiful in the crimson light, her blonde locks looking as though they were on fire and her eyes staring at him like that of a predator who'd just cornered it's prey.

"Oh, Link." She cooed. "I was hoping you'd stay in your room like a good little hero. I suppose not."  
Link stared in shock, how long had she been there?!  
"I really should have left a guard in front of your door." She continued. "I was hoping I could trust to you stay put. She let out a sigh. "But I guess not. You've left me no choice, now."

"No choice for what?" Link unconsciously began backing up as she walked towards him. He felt his heels hit the bottom of the throne as she came closer.  
"H-hey what are you-" He gasped she pressed her index finger against his forehead.  
The sensation he felt was near indescribable. It was like a hot flash of light had pierced his mind, but instead of pain he felt a dull throbbing sensation.

"You are mine." She said calmly.  
He couldn't move. He was fixed in place. He couldn't even speak. His forehead felt hot where her usually cold skin touched.

"You belong to me." She continued.  
He couldn't think. Why was he here again?  
His lip trembled.

"I...am yours..."

She gave him a small smile.  
"Good."

 **A/N Kudos to Lime, kudos to Lime. Ahem, we appreciate you reviews btw.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N and now ladies and gentalmen, I present the long awaited chapter 6.**

Zelda moved her hand in front of her face in a futile effort to shield her eyes from the sun. Her eyes then noticed something in the distance, focusing on it more, she realized that it looked like a large building.

"Is that maze palace?"

Ganon squinted, shielding his eyes in a similar manner.

"It must be. there's no other structure that large around here."

she placed a hand to her chin, deep in thought.

"Well, princess? What is your brilliant plan to get in?"

Zelda lifted the Triforce of Wisdom and vanished before his eyes. Unfortunately, the Triforce was still visible. Ganon stared at the floating triangle. "You realize the Triforce is still visible, right?"

"Oh, it is? Well, then I guess this is going to be a little more difficult than I thought... Wait, you wouldn't happen to have a piece of cloth or something would you?"

Ganon gave a grumpy sigh, took off his cloak and tossed it towards the princess (at least, where he thought she was standing).

"Oh, this should work" the Triforce and Ganon's cloak both disappeared as she placed it over the Triforce piece, leaving nothing but a faint glow suspended in the air.

"Hopefully none of her monsters find a floating blue light suspicious." He said. "But should she see it, she'll know something's up."

"I guess we will have to be quick then, now hold still so I can get the spell working on you too."

Ganon stood still, impatiently waiting for her to finish the spell.

"Okay finished."

Once she said that she became faintly visible to him.

"Not bad." he scoffed. "But you make sure you don't lose that concentration of yours or else we'll both become visible again."

Zelda gave Ganon an irritated look. Did he really think she didn't already know that? Ganon, however, ignored her scornful stare and continued forward.

"Well? Let's go."

The pair continued forward, their invisibility making getting past the guards a cakewalk. The deeper they went inside, the more Zelda was filled with a sense of dread. This place was huge! Would she be able to find Link before something happened to him? That is, if something hadn't happened already. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of such a dark thought.

They continued walking through the enormous palace, using the soft glow of the Triforce of Wisdom to guide them to the Triforce of Power, and hopefully to Link as well. The closer they got to the other piece the brighter the Triforce would glow. However, a problem arose when the hall split into two directions. Zelda held the Triforce up to the West branch: it continued to glow the same. She then held it up to the East branch, only to get the same result.

"I'll go through the West hall, you take the East." Ganon announced, heading down one hall, leaving Princess Zelda by herself. She sighed taking the east hall. She was really starting to hate it when he did things like that.

Being alone brought little relief. It still felt as though there were eyes peering at her from the darkness. Like she was constantly under someone's gaze. It only made the existing feeling of dread worsen.

"I can't stop here." She told herself. "I'm not leaving until I find Link."

Despite her attempt to reassure herself, the darkness and silence of the hall seemed to swallow her.

 _tap tap tap_

Then the silence was broken. Footsteps? Zelda stopped moving, but the footsteps continued, becoming more and more faint as they moved away. Someone had to be nearby. It could be Link.

She silently followed the sound of footsteps, unable to see who they belonged to until she came out into a what looked like an extravagant throne room. It was there that her suspicions were confirmed. It was Link! She had finally found him, alive and unharmed.

"Link!" She called, nearly dropping the Triforce of Wisdom as she ran to him. "Thank goodness you're okay! I was so worried!" She faltered a little at his almost deadened expression. "Link? What's the matter? C'mon, let's go!"

"Oh, but he doesn't want to leave..."

Princess Zelda spun around to face the voice, which belonged to none other than her own doppelganger.

"And why would he?" She continued. "After all, I treat him far better than you ever did." She held out her arms, almost as if to hug someone. "Come here, Link."

The Princesses eyes widened with horror as Link walked towards the other woman, standing by her side.

"See?" Dark Zelda smirked. "He likes me much better, don't you, Link?"

"I only want to serve you, princess." he replied in an almost monotonous voice.

She then smiled. "Then never leave my side."

Zelda watched in a state of shock as the pair embraced.

She felt the color drain from her face and tears prick at her eyes as they then kissed.

 _"I can't watch this...!"_ She thought, squeezing her eyes shut.

Her eyes snapped open again when she felt two rough hands grab each of her arms. The Triforce of Wisdom clattered to the floor.

"What should we do with her, m'lady?" The moblins asked, squeezing her arms a little harder.

"Take her to the dungeon and chain her there." Dark Zelda replied. "I shall deal with her later."

Zelda was still in shock, why would Link act that way? Something wasn't right... She snapped out of her trance as the monsters started dragging her away. She tried wriggling out of the grasp of her moblin escort, but they had a grip of steel as they led her even further into the fortress. They went down a dizzying amount of staircases and an innumerable amount of halls before she was brought to a dingy dungeon filled with equally dingy cells. They led her down to the last one and yanked the door open with a loud creak. She was roughly tossed inside before the door let out another loud creak and a bang as it shut and was locked behind her.

Zelda stiffened at a grumpy scoff from the corner of the cell. The princess looked up to see Ganon and he did not look to happy to see her. "Happy to see her" could have been no further from the truth. He was FURIOUS, having been so close to locating his piece of the Triforce, only for her stupid invisibility spell to wear off, leaving him visible for all the guards to see. She looked away from him and looked back at the bars.

"Well?" He snapped. "What's your excuse this time?"

"Leave me alone." she mumbled.

Ganon shook his head. He should have just gone in alone. If it hadn't been for her, he would have had his piece of the Triforce back already and be on his way to taking hers for himself.

Though, judging from her shaken state, he had to suppose that something had happened to Link. No matter. With Link out of the picture, taking the Triforce of Wisdom from the Princess would be a piece of cake. That is, if he ever got out of this cell and took down that doppelganger. Undoubtedly, seeing the Princess's empty hands, he had to guess that she had her piece of the Triforce taken from her by her dark copy.

The princess could feel his eyes on her. He had absolutely no right to judge her right now. She sighed trying to think of something else. An escape plan, whether or not she could pick the cell lock, even if guards would make possible rounds. Yet all she COULD think of was how badly she had lost this time. Not only was Link siding with the enemy, said enemy now had both pieces of the Triforce, spelling disaster for Hyrule. It'd only be a matter of time, now. Zelda ran her fingers through her hair, frazzled. Link acted completely out of character, sure he could be boorish and cocky every now and then, but he had never done anything like this before... Dark Zelda must have done something to him, that had to be the case.

…

Dark Zelda smirked as she watched the intruder being taken away. While petty, she loved being able to rub her success in the princess's face.

 _"Princess..."_ she thought. _"We're BOTH still considered princesses."_ Despite being far more powerful, she was still lumped in the same class as the Hylian heir.

"That won't do."

she said aloud, walking over to the now discarded Triforce of Wisdom and scooping it up. "Link, gather your things. We're going back to Hyrule." He silently nodded and headed off. She glanced down at the Triforce piece in her hands, then the Triforce of Power sitting on a pedestal next to the throne.

 _"With both pieces of the Triforce, I'll be unstoppable."_ She thought. _"Once I go to the castle, I'll rid the kingdom of that oaf of a king, then with him out of the picture..."_ her smile grew _. "I'll be able to take over as a Queen."_

However, there was a little problem. What was she going to do with her army? Surely she couldn't just leave them here, but if she brought them then villagers would panic at the sight of them, even if they believed their Princess was leading them. Perhaps she could use them to replace the Hylian soldiers, little by little. This way, she could create an army entirely loyal to her and her alone. She tapped her chin, mulling it over. If the Hylian soldiers whole-heartedly believed she was their beloved princess, there would be no need to replace them. Then again, unlike her monsters, they would be quick to change their view of her if she did anything wrong. Dark Zelda glanced over to the Triforce of Power. With magic, it'd be a piece of cake to disguise her monsters to look like regular men, and then it would be even easier to replace the regular soldiers little by little. Yes, the more she thought about it, the better this plan sounded.

Dark Zelda couldn't help smiling. She had won. She had created the perfect plan and her execution of it was even more flawless. Her eyes shot back to the hall when she heard footsteps.

"It's about time Link."

He simply gave a hollow nod as she went about casting a spell on the Triforce pieces so that they'd float alongside her. "Alright." She said, taking one last glance around the room.

"Ah, I nearly forgot." She walked over to her Evil Jar, and with a quick zap from the Triforce of power, it shrunk down to the size of an hourglass, which she scooped off the floor. It would be a bad idea to leave something so important here.

"Next stop: Hyrule Castle."

As the pair headed toward the exit, Dark Zelda hesitated a little.

"Link, come with me. We have someone to visit before we go."

...

Dark Zelda descended down the narrow stone staircase into the dungeon with Link trailing obediently behind. She came to a stop in front of the lone occupied cell.

Her former master did nothing to acknowledge her presence. The princess on the other hand, raised her head, an expression of mixed disgust and sorrow on her face.

"What do you want?" she spat.

"Nothing, just to reassure you things will be taken care of." Dark Zelda replied, flashing a diplomatic smile. "Hyrule will be in good hands, I assure you. As a matter of fact, I'm sure I will be the best queen the country has seen!"

The Hylian Princess's lip trembled as she continued.

"With both pieces of the Triforce, the Hyrule will prosper under the careful care of Link and I. The two of us will lead the land into a golden age!" She felt like squealing with childish joy as tears welled up in her prisoner's eyes.

"It's just a pity you'll have perished in here by time this all comes to pass."

Tears spilled out of Zelda's eyes as Dark Zelda turned her back to the cell, grabbed Link by the hand and started back up the stairs, ready to put her plan into action.

She came back up with a devious smirk on her face. She shot a quick glance back at Link who still had that ever present blank look on his face. Would he have ever fallen for her, had things been different? She wondered. She'd thought he was finally beginning to see how great she was, until the night he tried to take the Triforce of Power. Had he just been pretending? No, he couldn't have. It was only because he was around the other princess for so long that he was confused enough to try and steal her Triforce piece and had a hard time seeing how much better she was. Still that empty expression of his saddened her a little.

"Link?"

"Yes?"

"Do you like being around me?"

He nodded. "I live to serve you."

"Then, why don't you smile a little more around me?"

He obediently smiled a little. His eyes still looked hollow, but it was an improvement.

"Good. I'm glad to see you happy." She kissed his cheek. "Now, let's go."

...

Spryte flew around anxiously back and forth. It had been days since Zelda had left with that mysterious stranger, and she still hadn't returned. Her blue eyes darted to the door when she heard footsteps. She had been incredibly high strung ever since Link went missing. The foot steps stopped for a moment, then started up again, moving away. Spryte knew it was just a guard walking by, but despite knowing the source of the noise, her nerves were frazzled and she was constantly on the verge of panic, knowing that Link was clearly in some sort of danger, and that Zelda had too thrown herself headfirst into it without even knowing who or what was behind it, or how dangerous it was. Maybe she ought to go look for her...?

She shook her head. No way! Not only was Zelda more experienced, she would more than likely get herself in trouble before finding the princess.

Then again, she was a fairy. Fairies were much less noticeable and smaller to boot, making it easier to sneak into places undetected.

"Spryte?"

She startled, and spun around. She hadn't even heard the old King approaching.

"Yes your highness?"

Harkinian looked like he'd aged ten years since Zelda left. His expression was that of exhaustion, dark bags under his eyes after sleepless nights full of worries. A few new wrinkles seemed to have appeared and he no longer stood up straight.

"Any news regarding Zelda?"

The fairy shook her head.

"No, nothing yet. "

The King sighed. "I hope she comes back soon."

"Me too."

A melancholy silence passed between the two. She hadn't realized how horribly this would effect the king, then again why wouldn't it? Zelda was his daughter and only child, after all.

Spyte sighed. They didn't even have the Triforce to help this time. The silence was broken by a polite knock at the door. Harkinian opened the door to a guard who quickly saluted.

"Your majesty!" he began "Princess Zelda has returned with Link!"

The King's expression grew visibly lighter.

"They're here?"

The guard nodded.

"Wonderful!" he clapped his hands in delight. "Please notify the kitchen staff to begin preparations for dinner. We'll be having a feast to celebrate their safe homecoming!"

The guard gave another silent nod and left.

Harkinian turned to Spryte, beaming.

" I knew they'd come home safely! Let's go greet them!"

Spryte gave a happy nod. It felt like all the worry had that constricted her heart and lungs had dissipated, leaving her to freely breathe again.

Feeling lighter than ever, she quickly fluttered out after the King, eager to greet her friends again.

 **A/N this has been our shortest chapter by far, what was your opinion? Cunstructive critism is welcome here.**


	7. Chapter 7

The king hurriedly ran to his daughter's side pulling her into a tight embrace, going on about how worried he was and how badly he missed was relieved to see her friends were okay, but she could immediately tell something was different. Link's eyes were blank and deadened, lacking the mischievous twinkle she'd come to love. Zelda on the other hand was acting normal. Almost too normal. Had something happened to them?

Her thoughts were immediately dismissed when she noticed the glowing red triangle levitating next to the pair.

"Is that...?"

"Yes." Zelda answered, cutting her off. "Ganon was at the core of the kidnapping and murders as we suspected. However with Link and I working together, we were able to defeat him and take the Triforce of Power back from him." She smiled sweetly at the silent hero who simply nodded in affirmation.

" _Why did Ganon kidnap Link? How had they defeated him? Where had he been hiding? What took them so long to get back?"_ So many questions were buzzing through Spryte's head, but she didn't know where to begin.

"That's incredible! How did you two do it?!" Harkinian exclaimed.

"Well, by the time I got there, Link was on the brink of defeat." Zelda began "By using the Triforce of Wisdom, I forced Ganon back until Link recovered. The two of us working against him at once was too much for him to handle, and he was quickly defeated."

She beamed. "With the Triforce of Power out of his hands, he's hardly a threat anymore."

Spryte glanced over at Link, fully expecting him to brag about his daunting escape from Ganon's prison all the way up to the head honcho himself, but he still remained silent.

"Link? Are you feeling okay?" She asked, fluttering a little closer. "You don't look too good."

"Just hungry, no doubt! I'm sure he'll feel better after a good meal!" The king answered, clapping a hand on the young man's shoulder. In truth, Harkinian too had noticed Link's unusual behavior. He could only hope it was caused by hunger as the four of them made their way to the dining room.

" _why would Ganon kill the guards but spare Link?"_ Spryte just didn't sound like him at all. What possible motivation would he have had to abduct Link instead of kill him? If Link had been so close to death, how could he have had the energy to fight Ganon? The princess had not once mentioned using any healing item on him, saying that he had just "recovered". Usually some kind of medicine or potion would have been needed if Link was as badly hurt as Zelda had said, but she never mentioned treating his injuries.

True, there was the chance Link had medicine on him and just needed an opening to get it out, but it would have been rather stupid-even for Ganon- to leave Link with his bag. Especially since he'd done it before and paid the consequence. Maybe he'd retrieved his bag before encountering Ganon? But then how had he escaped? This whole story didn't seem to quite add up.

Spryte's previous feelings of anxiety bubble up once more.

Dark Zelda looked over at the fairy, perplexed as to why she was still following them. Who was she to the princess? Hopefully nobody important. She didn't even know her name, and hopefully she wouldn't need it anytime soon.

It wasn't long before they reached the dining room, and true to the King's word, an extravagant meal was laid out on the table. The aroma of perfectly cooked food was enough to make anyone hungry.

They all took their seats and began eating, occasionally chatting about trivial things, and eventually the conversation turned to the recent attacks on the kingdom.

"Of course, without the Triforce of Power, Ganon is no threat and that means the monster attacks should stop." Harkinian continued. "That'll be a relief, eh?"

The question took Dark Zelda by surprise. "Uh, yes I guess they should." She hadn't even thought about the raids, much less that the king himself was keeping track of them. This could be a problem.

However, it also gave her an idea. If the monster attacks were to continue even with Ganon out of the picture, the Hylians would be looking for something or someone else to blame. If she played her cards correctly, they might just blame their own king. She smiled to herself. This may be easier than she thought.

The king spoke again, interrupting her thoughts once more. "So how was your trip?"

"No problem." She answered. "The monsters left us alone for the entirety of our journey back, fortunately."

"What about that guy you left with?" Spryte inquired. "Y'know, the magic expert or whatever."

"Ah, well..."

Another unforseen element. A magic expert…?

Ah, yes. Ganon. Her former master.

She'd nearly forgotten he was a part of this whole ordeal.

"He helped me locate the palace, and then left on his own way." She replied.

"There was a palace?" Spryte asked curiously.

Dark Zelda nodded, reminding herself to be more careful with her words. At this rate, she'd blow her cover.

"I didn't even think there were any buildings left on Maze Island either, but it seems Ganon built himself a rather impressive hideout there."

"Oh,I see." Spryte said quietly. She still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling the princess was giving her, but chose to say nothing about it.

The meal continued and concluded uneventfully. The king bade them all a good night and presumably headed off to his own room to retire for the evening.

At this point Dark Zelda had been hoping to have some alone time with Link, but that fairy(who's name she still didn't know) refused to leave the hero's side, chattering incessantly.

Dark Zelda worried that she might realize Link wasn't quite normal.

This nuisance would need to be addressed, and quickly.

"If you don't mind me asking…" Spryte started. "Did something happen to you? I ask because you seem, well less cheery than usual."

Link's expression shifted. It looked like he was trying to remember something.

Spryte sighed. " I understand if it's personal, but remember you can tell me anything." She looked over to Zelda hoping she could get some answers out of her.

"I'm sure he's just tired from the long trip. It took me three days to get there alone, yet we made the trip back in a single days time." She said. "Right, Link?"

He obediently nodded.

"I'll take him upstairs." Dark Zelda said, turning to the fairy. "You should go get some rest yourself."

"Uh, okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Spryte said turning away.

As soon as the bug had flitted out of sight, Dark Zelda put an arm around Link's shoulders and led him through the castle and to his room in the tower, a layout she'd previously memorized before coming here a few weeks prior.

They stopped short in front of Link's bedroom door before she turned him to face her, deliberately making eye contact.

"You were just tired today." She said. "When you wake tomorrow, you'll be back to your usual energetic self."

He slowly nodded as her spell took hold.

"Good." She smiled, giving him a brief peck on the cheek before he went into his room.

Dark Zelda made her way to the princess's room (though she supposed it was now hers), mulling over the night's events.

If the fairy had already realized that Link was acting peculiar, then it wouldn't be long before others caught on as well.

She entered her bedroom and closed the door behind her, pondering what she could do to make Link's lack of memory and emotion less obvious.

She briefly considered returning some of them, excluding his memories of the other princess, but quickly dismissed it. It would be extremely difficult to return those specific memories. It could be done of course, but it would be time consuming and wasn't worth the risk of a rushed job. Now if she could guarantee a few hours alone with him...

Dark Zelda shook her head.

No, she needed a quick solution until the King and fairy were out of the picture.

Perhaps she could play along with them, pretending to be concerned about Link's sudden change in mood. Yes, this sounded doable.

Her thoughts came to a halt when it occurred to her that she didn't actually know any of their names. The fairy, the King, nobody.

She frowned a little. There was no way she could play along if she didn't even know that much...

But there was a way she could learn.

Dark Zelda slipped her tiara off her head and turned it over in her hands.

In the center of her headpiece there was a single ruby cut in the shape of a diamond. At least, that's what it looked like on the outside. In reality, the crystal was a magical artifact, and contained in it were the various energies that made up Link's memories. If she kept her focus, it would be possible to view them herself.

She sat herself down in a chair, holding the headpiece steady with one hand, then placing her free palm over the crystal as she closed her eyes. Gradually, it felt like the room around her melted away.

Once she opened her eyes again, Dark Zelda found herself in a black void, lit only by glowing spheres as they floated about. One of them passed by, showing the hazy image of a child looking in a mirror with a missing tooth.

"These must be Link's memories." she thought.

The one she'd just seen showed a child...it must have been him when he was younger. Perhaps the memories had organized themselves in chronological order?

More and more orbs of light passed by, cataloging Link's journey from child to man. Eventually, one came by that had Hyrule Castle in view. She reached out, and as soon as her fingers touched the glossy surface of the orb, the darkness around her faded away and she found herself standing in the Throne room of Hyrule Castle.

Link was kneeling before the King, who was seated on the throne with Zelda standing by his side.

"What is your name, young man?" The old monarch asked.

"Link, your highness."

"Link, I would like to offer you my sincerest thanks for saving my daughter." The king said. "When I heard that Ganon had kidnapped her and put her under an eternal sleeping spell, I was at a loss for what to do. Had you not come along and freed her when you did, I would have likely given in to his demands and offered the Triforce of Wisdom in exchange for her safe return." He glanced over to his right, where the blue triangle levitated just above a pedestal.

"Which brings us back to why we summoned you here, Link." The princess continued. "We would like you to stay here with us and guard the Triforce from Ganon."

"Me? Stay here?" Link looked uncomfortably at his surroundings.

"I don't do so well with palaces. Those dungeons were the stuff of nightmares!" His voice echoed in the room, but his mouth didn't move and neither the King nor Princess reacted to this statement.

 _"These are Link's memories..."_ Dark Zelda thought. _"Perhaps I'm hearing this thoughts as well?"_

"Please, Link. We need you here."

Her own thoughts were interrupted by the Princess approaching the kneeling hero, hands clasped together.

"If Ganon gets the Triforce of Wisdom, it would be the end of Hyrule."

"If I accept, I get to stay here with Princess Zelda..." Link's thoughts echoed again. "And I'd also get to slay a few monsters, maybe even Ganon himself. That can't be too bad."

"Okay, I'll do it." He answered.

Zelda's eyes lit up.

"Splendid!" The king grinned. "We'll have the tower room ready for you by sundown!"

"Oh, uh, thanks your highness-" Link was cut off by the King waving his hand dismissively.

"You may just call me Harkinian, my boy." He said. "No need for formalities. Zelda dear, why don't you show him up to where he'll be staying?"

"Certainly." She looked over at Link, who blushed a little at her gaze. "Follow me, Link."

Dark Zelda dismissed the vision with a wave of her hand. She had no desire to watch Link and the princess interact any more. She had what she needed from that memory, anyway. The King's name was Harkinian. All she really needed now was the Fairy's name.

She looked around the swirling darkness, the memory she had just viewed was now nowhere to be seen. Oddly enough she didn't see any of the others she had passed earlier. Peering into the darkness, she could just make out the phantom lights of Link's memories ahead.

She started walking towards the lights as they lazily glided towards her. It seemed like from this point onward all these memories took place in or around the castle with the princess. To think that Link created so many significant memories with that weak, useless version of herself...

The very thought filled her with disgust.

Dark Zelda grew more and more angry every time she saw her inferior double on an orb. Part of her wanted to just all out destroy them, leaving no trace of the princess's existence in his mind. Her feelings of wrath subsided when she finally saw the fairy's face on a memory. The small girl's eyes were averted from the center of focus and her cheeks were flushed with red.

She reached out, fingertips brushing the glassy surface before the scene enveloped her. Once her surroundings had settled, she found herself standing in the castle gardens.

Just a few feet ahead, the princess sat on the edge of a fountain talking to Link about something. Dark Zelda inched closer to listen in, but their conversation was interrupted as a small fairy zipped over to the pair.

"P-princess your back! A-are you alright?! Di..." She trailed off, just noticing the green clad hero.

"oh..." the fairy hovered in place for a moment before flitting over to Zelda and taking a seat on her shoulder.

"Who is this, Princess?" she asked, looking Link up and down.

"Spryte, this is Link. He saved me from Ganon." She gestured to him as he gave a wave.

"And Link, this is Spryte. She's joined with me and my father to help fight against Ganon."

 _"Ah, so her name was Spryte. How uncreative."_ Dark Zelda thought dryly. She debated leaving the memory, she had what information she needed, anyway. However she still didn't know what to make of this "Spryte". She seemed like a common maid but she exerted an air of importance, much to Dark Zelda's annoyance. There was a missing a piece of the puzzle here, and it bothered her. She already had to cover for herself not knowing their names, but it could prove even more troublesome if she didn't know much else beyond that.

"You've fought Ganon?" Spryte exclaimed, leaving her perch on Zelda's shoulder and flitting around Link's head. "That must have been scary! You're really brave to have done that!"

Link grinned, clearly pleased by the praise.

"Ah, he was nothing. Just takes a few more shots than a common monster."

"What are you talking about, Link? We both were running for our lives!" The princess exclaimed.

His smile faded, replaced with an expression that could only be described as defensive.

"Only because I had to make sure you got out safely! Otherwise I could have taken him out, easy."

"Oh, so it's my fault Ganon wasn't defeated?" Zelda accused.

"N-no no, that's not what I meant!" he began.

"It sure sounded like it!" The princess huffed, storming out of the garden and back into the castle.

Link looked over at Spryte, who looked back at him.

"Don't worry." She said. "Zelda's always moody like that."

"Oh."

The scene around Dark Zelda faded into a white fog, which condensed back into a glowing sphere floating in the darkness.

She blinked a few times, adjusting her eyes. From what she could tell, Spryte was somewhat of a friend to the princess and had an obvious crush on Link. That last observation was a little irritating, though granted she was in no way worried about an insect ruining her relationship.

A short ways ahead, more memories aimlessly drifted. She had all the information she needed, but at the same time she was curious. What else made up his significant memories? The temptation to view more of Link's past was powerful, but enough time had been spent here. Staying too long ran the risk of someone in the castle finding her while she was in this trance.

Dark Zelda closed her eyes and let out a long exhale. It briefly felt like she passed through a curtain of warm air before opened her eyes and found herself sitting back in the castle with her tiara still in her hands.

Glancing out the window, she could see that the grey horizon heralded the coming of dawn.

A little bit of sleep may have been sacrificed, but at least she now knew what she needed. With that, she was one step closer to dethroning Harkinian and taking over Hyrule completely.

 _Tap tap._

Dark Zelda jumped at the sound, it had been faint but unexpected.

"Hello? Princess Zelda? Are you awake?"

"Yes. You may come in." she answered, still clutching her tiara.

Spryte pushed the door open and let it swing shut behind her and flew over. She immediately noticed something odd: the princess was already dressed for the day. Typically Zelda was still in her nightgown, struggling to get out of bed at this hour. As a matter of fact, Spryte usually didn't come in for another few hours. The reason behind her early visit today was to ask if Zelda was concerned about Link's odd behavior last night. It had been dismissed last night as a side effect of exhaustion, but she was worried he may have been traumatized by either being kidnapped, witnessing the murder of the guards, or whatever else happened to him while he was away.

Spryte cleared her throat, trying to dismiss the oddity from her mind.

"Hey, I know I'm a bit early today. I was wondering if you wanted to talk."

"Of course." Dark Zelda replied. "What is it that's bothering you?"

Not that she was actually concerned. But from what she saw in Link's memories, the other princess was the type to listen to anyone's issues, even that of a servant fairy. Once the king was out of the way and she was a queen, that would one of the first things to change.

"Well, I wondering... Did you notice something off about Link last night? He looked a bit, well, haunted. Did something happen? Or.." She sighed. "I know I'm probably being paranoid but something doesn't seem right."

There could be no risk of anyone scrutinizing Link's behavior now. If her plan was going to work, it needed to go off without a hitch. That meant that Link couldn't be the center of focus.

" It is odd, but I'm sure he's fine." she replied smoothly. "Trust me, being kidnapped is an exhausting ordeal. Give him a little time and he'll be back to normal before you know it."

Spryte wasn't quite satisfied with that answer, but decided to drop it. She had a feeling Zelda wouldn't give her a straight answer.

"Oh.. Okay, by the way your father wanted to see you."

"Really? So early? That's unusual..." she said, feigning surprise. "I'll go see him then. Do you know where he is?"

"Last I remember, he was near the armory."

"The armory? I'll be sure to go see him there."

Dark Zelda got up from her chair and put her tiara back on her head as she left the room and made her way to the lower floors where she assumed the armory was.

Fortunately, despite not knowing the exact location, a group of guards appeared to already be on their way there. All she had to do was simply follow.

Once inside the armory itself, the King wasn't hard to find. He stuck out like a sore thumb with his colorful garb and portly figure.

"I see, so the raids have stopped, then?" he inquired.

"Yes your majesty. There hasn't been a raid since the princess's return." The guard captain replied, then noticing Dark Zelda standing behind the King.

"Your highness." He saluted as Harkinian turned around.

"Oh good, there you are Zelda. I was sure you'd still be in bed." The old man smiled warmly at her. "Did you hear the good news? The monster attacks have finally stopped!"

"I just heard." she said. "That's a good sign, hopefully it stays that way."

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we'll be going out to visit Rauru today in order to help with the repairs." He took her hand and patted it "With all of us working together, the damage will be fixed in no time at all." Harkinian's smile faltered a little. "Do you think Link would be up to coming along? The way he was acting yesterday was a little worrying."

Ugh, not this again. Why was everyone so concerned about Link being a little different?

"I'm sure some fresh air and a little travel would do him some good." She replied with a fake smile.

"Oh good, good…" He trailed off, his expression shifting. "Say are you alright my dear? Your hands are a bit cold. You haven't caught a cold, have you?"

"I'm fine, don't worry. It's just drafty down here." She reassured, pulling her hands away. "When will we be leaving?"

"Oh, in about half an hour or so."

"I see. That'll give me enough time to see if Link is able to come." Dark Zelda gave a polite nod and left the armory, rubbing her hands together. Was it unusual for a normal person to feel cold? When she touched Link she had assumed he was just unusually warm, but even the King's hands gave off heat.

 _"I guess that's just a normal human thing..."_ she thought, stopping in front of the door to Link's room and giving it a polite knock. When there was no answer, she let herself in only to find it was empty.

A pang of panic pierced her chest. Could he have woken up before her and wandered off?

Where could he have gone? Why would he even leave in the first place? He never wandered around like this on Maze Island, so why would he start now?

She glanced over at the Triforce of Wisdom levitating above it's pedestal.

"Show me where Link is."

The relic glowed a little, then revealed a fuzzy image of Link standing outside, in what looked like the garden from one of his memories.

What reason would he have to visit such a place all the sudden?

"I'll just have to ask him when I find him." Dark Zelda mumbled to herself, turning around and heading back out of the room and down the staircase.

Finding the Royal gardens itself wasn't hard. It was finding the exact spot the Triforce of Wisdom showed her that proved a challenge. She wandered about the various topiaries, fountains and benches that seemed to be scattered at random, forming an unsolvable maze.

After a few more minutes of what felt like fruitless searching, she finally found him standing idly by a fountain.

"What are you doing here?"

He turned his head towards her, his eyes looking somewhat less deadened than before, almost like they were sad. A trick of the light, maybe?

"I feel like I've been here before, but I can't remember anything... Some of the people here, they seem familiar too, but..." He sighed. "I haven't met any of them before. So why do I feel like I already have?"

Link actually spoke.

This time it wasn't just a mindless confirmation that he had at least heard her or repeating an order she gave him. He was talking about his thoughts, and even said that this spot felt familiar. How was he even able to get a vague feeling of familiarity about a place he shouldn't have recalled to begin with?

"You...remember this place?" Dark Zelda asked. "How much?"

He shook his head. "I don't. I just...feel like I've been here before. Have I?" Link glanced at her expectantly.

 _"So he doesn't remember entirely. That's good. Dark Zelda thought. "If he had already begun to recall this much, how long until he remembered what happened on Maze Island? I can't let that happen."_ If Link remembered that she wasn't the real princess, then he'd undoubtedly go searching for the original one. Even if she were to kill the real Zelda before he got to her, it wouldn't be the same. He wouldn't be the same.

"Princess?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by Link inching a little closer.

"Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine Link, I just had a thought." She responded calmly.

He looked at her blankly, but said nothing else.

"C'mon." Dark Zelda grabbed his hand. "We've got plans in Rauru today."

...

The village of Rauru was in a sorry state.

I was one of the more lively of Hyrule's towns, being so close to the castle and all, but since the monster attacks began it took on the appearance a ghost town. No children played outside, there were no cries of livestock or fowl or even the quiet chatter of people. Many of the buildings had shattered windows and broken doors hanging off their hinges.

"These poor people..." Harkinian solemnly shook his head.

"We've had it rough lately." the gravelly voice broke the silence. Everyone turned around to see and old man dressed in thick robes leaning heavily on a cane as he hobbled toward them, seemingly escorted by a group of young men.

"Ah, you are the village elder, then?"

The old man politely dipped his head.

"That would be correct, your highness. I'd like to thank you for coming all the way out here just for us."

"No thanks needed." the King reassured. "Do show us where we are needed, though."

A smile creased the man's weathered face. "Of course, if you'll follow me..."

After dividing the soldiers into groups, one went to make repairs, another went to reinforce the town's defenses, and the final group went to check on the citizens and see if any needed medical attention.

Realizing that no one was paying attention to her, Dark Zelda slipped away to an uninhabited side of the village.

Once positive that she was alone, she dipped her hand into her collar and fished out a thin golden chain with a small translucent orb strung onto it. It wasn't much to look at, and that was exactly how she wanted it. The crystal orb was actually a small fragment of an ancient relic known as a gossip stone, a rock that was said to remember and recite things it's heard, as well as being able to carry a voice from one piece to another no matter the distance. Tracking down even this little fragment had been difficult, but well worth it. With it, she was able to give orders to her monsters no matter where she was. All she needed was for no one to hear her as she spoke into the stone.

"The soldiers are concentrated in Rauru" the crystal glowed faintly as she spoke. "The town of Ruto is defenseless. Attack and take anything you want from it."

Dark Zelda stuffed the pendant back into her collar and out of view. The monsters in her evil jar had received her orders and would now act on them.

"Zelda?" Harkinian's voice rang out across the village. "Where are you?"

"I'm coming!" she shouted back. All that she needed to do now was to wait patiently.

...

Night had fallen by the time the King and his entourage returned to Hyrule Castle. However, they were not greeted with good news.

"Another attack? Where?"

"Ruto, your highness." the knight replied.

"Well? How bad is the damage? Were reinforcements sent to protect the people? Have the monsters been driven out?" Harkinian fired one question right after the other, but the knight could only sadly shake his head.

"With all of our spare forces concentrated in Rauru, we didn't have any soldiers to send out without leaving Castle Town unprotected..."

"How awful..." Dark Zelda sighed, putting on her best sad face. "Here I had thought the attacks had stopped."

"Don't worry, Zelda." the king put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll send a group of fresh soldiers to Ruto immediately." he turned to the knight standing behind him. "Captain, gather a group of well rested soldiers and have them march out. I want to make sure my people can at least sleep soundly for the rest of the evening."

"Yes sire." The knight saluted as the king, princess, and silent hero passed by.

Dark Zelda had to force herself not to smile, the pieces to her plan were already falling in place with minimal effort. She looked over to Link, who still looked emotionless and nudged him with her elbow.

He gave her a blank stare. Any of the confusion or emotion that he had shown that morning seemed to have faded, but she was concerned it would make a comeback as they got closer to the castle.

"At least try to act shocked, it draws too much attention when you don't react." Dark Zelda whispered quietly into his ear.

Link silently nodded, even though he was unsure why this news should be shocking to him. Why should he care if a town was attacked? A dull pain began throbbing in his head. He should care, but why? Did it have something to do with the faint feelings of nostalgia he was getting? Maybe he should ask the princess. She seemed to know a lot. Maybe she would know why he got these strange feelings.

...

How long had it been since she'd been trapped here? It felt like days, maybe weeks, but she couldn't tell. The dreary dungeon had no source of natural light. She could only figure from how hungry she was that it must have been a couple days at a minimum. Zelda looked around, desperate to find some sort of tool she could use to break free. An idea came to mind, though it probably wouldn't work, it was worth a shot. She took out her right earring, and tried using the hook to pick the lock on her shackles. It did little other than leave faint, barely visible scratches near the hole. She grunted in annoyance at herself.

On the other hand, Ganon was trying a different approach, one he'd been attempting since getting captured. The particular shackles that had been clamped over his hands were a special sort, the energy draining sort. Unfortunately, any and all forms of magic took energy, so a lack thereof made getting out of this prison without a key a problem. He'd been trying to slowly reserve what energy he was getting back in a feeble attempt to hide it from whatever spells were on his bindings, but so far no dice. He couldn't even do so much as make a spark.

Then there was that princess, her own magical powers dormant, untouched, just waiting to be unleashed. Normally, an untapped magical ability was near impossible to sense, but the princess was a special case. Her magic was quite powerful from what he could tell, especially for someone as young as her. Yet, she was completely unaware of her own gift. Because she used the Triforce of Wisdom as a crutch and source of energy, she never thought of using the reserve in her own body. He thought for a moment, maybe it was possible that Dark Zelda had not sensed the princess's dormant magic, therefore not giving her spellbound shackles.

Maybe…

Ganon quickly discarded that thought. He was NOT going to rely on the person who got him into this mess. Besides, from what he understood Dark Zelda was still a novice and probably left some kinks in her enchantment. Yes, he COULD figure this out. It was only a matter of time now.

Deep breath in. Exhale.

The core reserve of his magical energy was the stomach. If he could just build up enough energy there-

sharp pain exploded through his wrists, followed by a dull but painful throbbing. The weight of the shackles seemed to increase tenfold, adding an ache to the mix.

Just like that, Ganon was robbed of any energy he had saved up. He'd tried just about anything he knew of to bypass the enchantment on the shackles. Changing the location of his energy reserve, compressing that energy so it seemed less than it was, channeling it away from his hands and arms, but nothing had worked.

The sharp clack of iron on iron snapped his attention to Zelda, who was smacking her shackles together. Naturally, it did nothing other than make a racket. At this rate she was just going to catch the attention of the guards.

She pulled, tugged, and continued grinding the iron cuffs against each other, but they showed no sign of wear. Nonetheless the princess kept trying. Ganon could almost admire the level of tenacity she was displaying.

Eventually the noise drew the attention of one of the Lynel guards, who stalked over and stared at the pair menacingly from the other side of the bars.

"Were you expecting a show or something? Get lost!" Zelda snapped, continuing to strain against the shackles. The guard gave what sounded like an amused snort and wandered back to its post.

"With the amount of noise you're making?" Ganon muttered "I think it was expecting an entire circus."

"At least I'm actually trying to do something." She retorted, not even looking back at him.

" _I'm not being useless! I'm trying everything I can!"_ He wanted to snap, but held it back. Admitting failure was the last thing he wanted to do.

"You're doing nothing but wasting your own energy." Ganon grumbled. "It would takes years and years of work to even make a dent, the way you're trying. If you haven't noticed, we don't exactly have years, princess."

A witty retort, he would have expected. What he hadn't expected was for Zelda to pull off her boot and throw it at him in a single fluid motion.

"Who the heck do you think you are?!" She snapped. "What makes you think you can treat me like some stupid kid?! Do you honestly think I don't know any better?! I've put up with this long enough! I'm not as naive as you think, I'm heir to the throne for Din's sake!" The princess's expression was one of pure, bitter hate as she lectured him. "And another thing, you can get off your high horse! NONE of your plans have ever worked! So don't you dare try to tell me what I'm doing is useless!"

Much like the princess, Ganon was seething with anger. Had his hands not been bound together, he would have strangled her then and there, Triforce or no Triforce. NOBODY talked to him like that.

"And you're in any state to say such a thing?!" He shouted. "Unlike you, I wasn't born with magical skill ingrained in my blood. I worked for it! Spent arduous YEARS honing my craft, and even more time searching for the Triforce of Power to enhance it!" every inch of him felt hot, like his blood was actively boiling in his veins.

"You're only still around because you have an entire country willing to do anything for their precious princess, including that rotten Link!" his chains audibly clattered as he shook. "You wouldn't last a minute in the real world on your own, princess! Why, you've only gotten this far because of MY help! You're only even HERE because of one uppity boy with a magic sword came to YOUR rescue!"

Zelda grew red in the face, unsure how to respond. Being trapped in a small space with the person she hated most made her all the more irate, like a wild animal that was cornered. Thinking about what he said made her remember What Spryte had told her right before she left. Did everyone really think she was incapable of doing anything on her own? Surely there had been a time when she had been self reliant, she just couldn't think of any particular moments because she was too angry to think. Yes, that must be it. She shook her head.

"You're wrong about me, it's true I was born with a lot of my resources. But, I can do a lot on my own, and I would last in the "real" world. Unfortunately, it's quite difficult when I can't even brush my hair without being attacked! Besides, I never once asked for your help, it was your idea to team up in the first place!"

"Pah!" Ganon snorted. "You are delusional, thinking you can hold your own! I bet you haven't slain a single monster without Link's involvement!"

Zelda angrily rolled her eyes.

"That's a trick question, no one can really kill a monster, they just get sent back to your evil jar."

"Your stupidity continues to show." Ganon snorted, almost amused at her lack of knowledge. Was she really meant to possess the Triforce of Wisdom?

"Not every monster is sent to my jar, only those who have sworn loyalty to me. Do you really believe every single monster out there is under my thumb? Hah!" he chuckled. "I haven't even begun to recruit the truly dangerous ones! Yet you struggle even with just the small fry." Ganon had quickly gone from enraged to amused. She truly knew nothing, absolutely NOTHING! It must have been the grace of her bloodline alone that allowed her to survive this long.

Zelda gritted her teeth "As if killing some dumb monster is the only way to prove oneself." She scoffed. There must have been some way to prove she wasn't useless, but she couldn't remember the last time she had ever done something on her own. Why did she even care what he thought? The guy wanted to take over Hyrule for Nayru's sake! Yet she wanted him-no, someone, anyone, to realize that she wasn't helpless. _"Now it just feels like I'm trying to prove it to myself..."_ She thought. _"Why am I only starting to care about this now?"_

No, in truth, she'd cared about this for a long time, ever since Link first saved her from Ganon. The feeling of complete helplessness she had then was terrifying. It still haunted her after the ordeal, after she'd asked Link to teach her how to defend herself, and here it was again. Taunting her. Even the one responsible for kidnapping her was trapped here, helpless with no escape. The one person she had feared was here and just as stuck as she was.

 _"Link couldn't even defeat Ganon entirely, and even he can't escape this mess. What chance do I have of getting out of this one?"_

As much as she'd grown to resent it, before she could at least hope that Link would come to her rescue. Yet remembering the blank, emotionless look on his face when she last saw him...

Her heart sank as her last hope was snuffed out.


End file.
